fischer



H. 0. FISCHER.

LABELING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 11mm. 1911.

Patented Jul 29, 1919.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

Win33; m

are, FISCHER. [LABELING MACHINE. APPuQATmN FlLED mmo. x917.

Patented July 29; 1.919.

4 snsns-snzn 2. 5

H; O; FISCHER. LABElmc MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IAN-10.1?-

Patented July 29, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 u. 0. FISCHER. LABELING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IAN-10.1917- M m m M w w m p 9 y g M v e m F Q a P UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

HERMANN O. FISCHER, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PACKAGE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHQUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

LABELING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, HERMANN O. FlSCllElt, a subject of the. Emperor of Germany, residing at 18 Sveamore Sh, Springfield, in the county of llampden and State of Massachueating like parts 'in the several figures.

This inventionrelates to machines for applying labels, seals and the like to packages. boxes, bottles 'and articles of various descriptions,which, for convenience, will be hereinafter referred to as packa s. The invention. will be herein disclose as embodied in amachine for applying two seals simultaneously to opposite faces of a package. It is a common ractice in wrapping cartons, particularly tlose containing food st u it's, to fold a wrapper around the longitudinal faces of tl1e.carton into a tubular form leaving extensions projecting at opposite ends of the package. These extensions are then folded down against the end faces of the package and an end seal or label is pasted on each end face to hold the folds in place. This method of wrappin produces a very attractive package, one w ich lends itself readily to ornamental designs, and it forms a very tight and effective wrap in The machine hereinafter described in etall for the purpose of disclosing the present invention is designed. especially to appl these end seals or abels to theopposite en s of a package.

The invention has for its chief object to devise a label aflixing machine which 'shall he simple in construction, reliable in operation, can be readily adjusted by an unskilled operator and will operate at high speeds.

Since the labels used in machines of this character usually bear the trademark of the manufacturer or have some ornamental coloring or design, they are printed and cut to a. uniform size before they come to the machine and the machine is provided with a magazine-to receive the suppl of labels. The present invention rovl es a novel Specification of Letters Patent.

mechanism, so constructed that it enablesthe machine to handle the packa es at high speeds andat the same time avoids any danger of injuring them.

The invention also is directed to the provision of a novel controllin mechanism which revents the feeding o a label upon the ailure of the machine to deliver a package in the p oper position to have a label applied totat, and to a novel arrangement for Patented July 29, 1919. Application filed January 10. 1917. Serial No. 141,700. i

permitting the adjustment of the label applyin mechanisms to enable the machine to .JlLIId e packages varying widely in dimensions.

The invention also'includes certain novel details of construction and combinations and preferred embodiment of the invention, the novel features being particularly pointed outin the ap ended claims.

Referring now to the accompanying draw- Figure 1 is a plan view of a label applying machine constructed in accordance with the;

invention Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the ma- (Iih ine shown in Fig. 1 taken on the-line 2 2,

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig.4 is an angular view of one of the suction plates used on the machine;

Fig. '5 is an angular view showing the manner in which the machine applies a label or sealtoa package; I

Fig. 6 is a plan view of oneof the label applying mechanisms;

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross sectional view on the line 77, Fig. 6;

:Fig. 8 is an angular view of a part of the label applying device;

' Fig. 9 is a vertical cross sectional view of the part shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a vertical cross sectional view showing a detail of construction; and

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of certain parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. (i.

The machine shown may be used either as an attachment for awrappingmachine designed to perform certain preliminary wra ping operations on the package and then eiver it to the labeling machine, or it may be used to apply labels to packages which have not been prepared in thls manner. In either 4 in Fig. 3, this chain being provided-with,

chine on a table or platform2, havin -one or more side guides 3 to prevent latera dis.- placementof the ackages, and they preferably are advanced one at a time toward the labeling mechanism by some mechanical means as, for instance, by a chain shown at package pushing devices 5. The forward movement of each package is arrested by a stop 6 (Fig. 1), after it has been delivered to two chains 7 and 8, which form a conveyer, each chain being provided with a series of package engaging lugs or fingers 9.

These chains are supported at their forward ends on two drivlng sprocket wheels 10 mounted on a shaft 12, and at their rearward ends on a pair of idle sprocket wheels 14. The sprocket wheels 14 are supported by hangers 15 which are adjustable to tighten the chains 7 and 8. The shaft 12 also has fixed thereto a sprocket Wheel 16 which is driven by means of a chain 17 runnin on another sprocket wheel 18 fast on the s aft 19. This shaft carries a beveled gear 20 meshing with a similar gear 22-mounted fast on the shaft 24, the latter shaft being driven by means of a gear 25 which it carries and which meshes with a pinion 26 fast on the driving shaft 27 of the machine. The

constant rotary movement thus imparted to the chains 7 and 8 enables them to advance the packages at a uniform rate past the labeling mechanisms, the lugs 9 pushing the.

packages ahead of them one at a time along a pair of horizontal guides 30 toward a table 31 at the tail of the machine.

It may here be stated that in order to avoid an into the ower edge of the package as they move out of contactwith it, an arm 32 carrying a roll at its outer end is fixed to the shaft 12 in position to strike the rearward .side of the package just before it leaves the chains 7 and 8, and pushes the package away from the lugs 9 forcing iton to the table or platform 31. This arm is enabled to operate in this manner because it extends be ond the peripheries of the wheels 10 on whic the free end, which carries the roll, travels at a reater peripheral speed than do the chains. his roll thus comes up behind each package as it' nears the end of the chains and ushes the package ahead of the lugs, spee ing it up during the rest of its travel in this direction. The roll rotates freely by contact with the package and thus avoids any danger of injuring it.

The label a plying mechanisms are arranged in duplicate in the machineshown so that they will a ply a seal or label to each side of the pac liage while the chain is carrying it from the receiving platform 2 t0 possibility of the lugs 9 biting these label applying mechanisms are alike, one of them only will be described in detail. The labels are supported on edge in a magazine 34 between a front plate 35 and a rear plate 36, the latter plate being constantly pressed-toward the former plate by ,means of two springs 37. The plate 35 is lower or shankportion of this late consists I of a rock shaft to which a tail piece 40 is rigidly fixed and one end of this tail piece is acted upon byv a spring 42 in a direction tending to swing the suction plate about its axis toward its open position. In' order to swing the suction plate into its closed position, it has a pinion 43 pinned to its lower end and this pinion meshes with a segment 44 (see Figs. 6 and 7) whichisarranged to swlng about a pivot stud 45 and carries. a cam roll-46 at its rearward end. This roll normally is held by the spring 42 in contact with an internal cam face 47 formed on a gear 48 which is fast on a vertical shaft 50. This shaft also carries the label applying member 52 so that the movement of the suc-v tion plate is accurately timed with reference to the rotation of said member. The suction plate is of the usual construction and a suit- I able air exhausting mechanism of the character commonly used in machines of this type is provided to exhaust the air from the passages in the suction plate at the proper periods in the cycle of operations of the machlne. I a

The suction plate 38 is operative to move the forward edge of the margin of the foremost label in the magazine into position to be grasped by the label aflixing device. This device comprises a segmental plate 52 mounted fast on the rotary shaft 50 and having its peripheral surfacecurved to lie in. the cylindrical surface formed by its rotative movement. A nipper 54 is pivoted to the rearward side of the plate 52, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and the pivot or rock s aft to which th1s nipper is inned carries a inion chains 8 and 9 travel and consequently its 7 ii 5 at its u per end W ich meshes with a seg-. ment-561t at rocks freely on the shaft 50. A spring 57 connects a pin rigid with the pinion 55 to the segment 56 at points such that it tends'to maintain the nipper 54 in its closed or label gripping position. Inorder to open the nipper at the required point in the member 52 with it, the cam face 47 will, at a certain time, allow the suction plate 38 to swing outwardly carrying the mar in of the endmost label in themagazine with it. While the suction late maintains the edge of this label in this deflected position, the roll 60 is traveling along the face of the cam 61 and acts through the connections just described to hold the nipper 54 open; but this roll rides'oif the end of the cam 61 at about the time that the forward edge of the plate 52 engages the outturned edge of the label and the spring 57 immediately snaps the nipper 54 into 1ts closed position, thus causing it to grip the margin of the label firmly, pressing it against the forward edge of the member 52. Fig. 6 shows the parts at substantially the instant that this operation is completed. As the label applyin device continues to rotate, it draws the la el out of the magazine causing the label to trail behind, resting more or ess on the eripheral surface of the part 52. It will iie noted that the rear face of the front plate 35 of the magazine lies substantially on a tangent to the path of travel of'the member 52'so thatthe foremost label is pulled out edgewise in a plane substantially coincident with or parallel to itself.

It is next necessary to apply adhesive material to the rear face of the label and for this purpose a glue pot 64 is removably supported by clamping screws 65 adjacent to the member 52 and is provided with a glue applying roll 66 which is mounted on a shaft that carries a ear 67 running in mesh w1th the gear 48. slight clearance is provided between the adhesive applying roll 66 and the labelcarrying member 52 so that in case the latter member does not carry a label the roll 66 will not smear its peripheral surface with glue. \A detachable piece 68, which is set into the forward edge of the part 52, is provided with a series of very short pins 70 which may be long enough to touch the film of glue on the roll 66 and which, therefore, perform the function of pressing the forward edge -of the label into engagement with ",,the film of 50 lue on this roll. At the same time these plns'are so small that they cannot pick up enou h glue to cause any trouble in case the mac inc is allowed to run without labels in the magazine. The adhesion of the label to the film of glue on the roll 66, which is established by the pins 70 forcing the forward edge of the label into engagement with the roll, serves to maintain the label in contact with the roll while it is carried past the roll by the member 52. The-adhesive applying apparatus, of course, is provided with the usual scraping devices which reduce to -the desired thickness the film of glue on the this manner.

the passage of the lugs 9 tage in handling the glue very neatly and avolding the smearing ofthe glue on parts of the mechanism due to the failure of the workman to keep the magazine supplied with labels or'for any other reason. The clearance provided between the label affixing dev1ce and the glue applying member need only bevery small, say abouton'e sixteenth of an inch.

As an additional means of forcing the label into engagement with the glue roll 66, the member 52 is provided with air channels or ducts which 0 eiiinto its peripheral face, as indicated at 2, Fig. 8, and air may'be forced through these channels by the same means that creates the suction in the-suction plate 38. Usually, however, it is unnecessary to emplo this fluid pressure means for holding the la el in contact with the glue roll.

The rotation of the two members 52 .is, of course, so timed with reference to the travel of the lugs 9 on the chains 7 and 8, that as these lugs push a package past said members they apply the labels which they carry to the opposite faces of the package, centering the la els properly on these faces. The members 52 rotate at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the rate of travel of the packages so that they roll the labels on to the package. Any friction or sliding movement between the parts 52 and the packa e thus is avoided. Fig. ;5 shows the label a plied to the package P in he centering of the label on'. the end face of the package is, of course, determined by the angular adjustment of the sprocket wheel 10 on the shaft 12, since this adjustment determines the relative timing of past the rotatable labe applying devices.

The two label applying mechanisms are, of course, driven in unison sand for this purpose the shaft 50 of the right hand mec anism is operated by beveled gears 7 9,

' which connect it with the shaft 24, see Figs.

2 and 3, while the left hand mechanism is operated through a similar gear connection, one of the gears being indicated at 80, Fig. 3, with a shaft driven by a'beveled gear connection 82 with the shaft 19.

Ifit is desired to render the nipper 5 c inoperative for any reason as, for instance, incase of trouble, the segment 56 can be turned about the shaft 50 in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 6, thus rotating the nipper 54 into its open position and a latch 69 can" then be seated in a notch 71- formed in the segment 56, the latch operating thereafter to hold the nipper open until it is released by hand. When the nipper is locked'in its open position, the roll 60 is sha t 76 and carrying a roll 77 at its upper.

end, which normally 1s in the path of travel of the packages as they are carried forward by the chains 7. and 8. This rock shaft also carries two short arms 7 8, see Figs. 3 and 6 which at certain times are moved in front 0 the respective tailpieces that project from the respective suction plates 38 of the two label applying mechanlsms, and these arms thus prevent the springs 42- from swinging the suction plates into their open ositions. The wei ht of a package in passlng over the roll 77 is sufiicient to depress this end of the lever and thus elevate the outer ends of the arms 78 far enough to maintain them above the paths of movement of the tail pieces 40, but the weight of the parts is so disposed that if the chains fail to deliver a package at theproper time to receive the seals or labels, the roll 77 will be elevated and the free end of the arms 78 will drop into'position to engage the tail pieces 40 and keep the spring 42 I from swinging the suction plates 38 into their open or label deflecting positions. The parts are so timed that an interruption in the delivery of ackages to the machine causes I each arm 8 to drop down in front of its a the machine.

respective tail piece 40 while the tail piece is held at the rearward limit of its stroke due to the engagement of the cam surface 47 with the roll 46 and the motion thus 'transmitted to'the tailpiece throu h the sector 44: and the pinion 43. When t e cam surface 47 passes out of engagement with the roll 46 to allow the spring 42 to swing the suction plate 38 into its label deflecting posi; tion, the tail piece 40 strikes the end of the arm 78 substantiallyatthe beginning of this deflecting movement and thus prevents'the suction plate from positioning the margin ofa label for the engagement therewith of the label-applying member. The delivery of labels thus is controlled automatically by the proper presentation of packages to An adjustable stop 81, see Fig 3, is positioned under each of the arms 78 and the downward. movement of, these arms is limited by these stops.

pushes the packages one at a time ofi' the chains 7 and 8 on to the platform 31 and into the path of a reciprocating pusher 84 which operates at right angles to the path of movement of the arm 32 and serves to push the packages on to a conveying belt 85. This pusher, as shown in Fig. 2, is mounted to' slide on a air of horizontal rods 86 and is connected by a shirt link'87 to the upper end of a lever 88 fulcrumed at 89, and operated by a cam follower 90 which is pivoted to the lever at 91 and is operated by a cam 92 fast .on to the shaft 24; The conveyer 85 may be driven in any suitable manner, but in the machine shown this conveyer is operated by a crank 100, see-Fig. 2, on the shaft 24 and a connecting rod 101, Figs. 2 and 3, which operates a lever 102 carrying a ratchet that enga es a ratchet wheel 103 fast on a shaft whic carries a pulley 104 over which the conveyer belt 85 runs. Obviously,any other suitable means may be provided for takin the packages away from the discharge en of the conveyer formed. by the chains 7 and. 8, the particular arrangement shown being merely a convenient way of illustrating this ob ect.- I j g t is obvious that the two label applying mechanisms must be adjustable toward and from eachother in order to a ply labels simultaneously to the opposite si es of packages of different lengt s. In the machine shown this object is accomplished by mounting both of these mechanisms and the operatm means therefor on independent frame sections indicated in the drawings at A and B, respectively, and these two sections are .supported on a base '0 for slidin movement toward and from each other.- or the purpose of effecting this movement two shafts 95 and 96, respectively, (see Fig. 2)'are rotatably mounted in bearings formed. for them in the two frame sections A and B and are each rovided with right and left hand th rea ed portions enga ing correspondinglg threadednuts fast on the sections A and so that when they are rotated in either direction they will move the frame sections A.

the packages as they are carried through the machine by-the conveyer chains 7 and 8.

This rotative adjusting movement is ,provided for by mounting a beveled gear on the endof each shaft95 and 96 and rovid ing a shaft 98 at ri ht angles to the s aft 96 and carrying beve ed ears meshing with the gears mounted on sald shaft. The shaft 98 also is provided with a hand wheel 99 by means of which it can be rotated.

It will be noted that only two'shafts, namely, 12 and 19extend through the two sections A and B and those gears and wheels carried by the shafts which must move toward and from each other are splined to the shafts and suitably guided in their respective frame sections A and B so that the cooperative relationship between the shafts and the other parts mounted in the frame piecesA and B is preserved in all positions of adjustment. q

Any suitable kind of air exhausting appaing the suction required in the plate 38 and delivering the required air pressure to the label-applying plates 52. In the machine shown an air pump is used which is indicated in Fig. 3 at 107, this pump being driven from a shaft 27. Flexible tubes as lead from the suction side of the pump to the suction lates 38 and additional tubes 2 lead from the pressure side of the pump to nipples y, see Figs. 6 and 10, located on the bed of the machine in a line between the.

shafts 66 and 50 and immediately under the path of movement of the plate 52. The ducts 72 formed in the plate 52 and into which the passages 72 open, are themselves open at the bottom so that as these ducts come in line with the nipple z air will be forced into them and through the short passages 7 2 against the face of the label which the member 52 carries, thus forcing this label away from the peripheral surface of the label-applying member 52 and pressmg itinto contact with the glue-applying roll 66.

It will readily be appreciated from the foregoing description that the label applying mechanisms provided by thls inventlon are extremely simple in construction, that it is not liable to get out of order and that 1t requires practically no attention other than 'to keep the magazine supplied with labels, the glue pots supplied with glue and to lubricate the parts, all of which operatlons can be performed by an unskilled laborer. The adjustment re uired to enable the machine to handle pac ages of different dimensions also is extremely simple. It will also be evident that the employment of a continuously moving conveyer to carry the packages past the label applying mechanisms and the employment of rotary label aflixing devices enable the machine to operatev at relatively .high speeds. Furthermore, the elimination of reciprocating motion, particularly in parts having a long stroke, not only increases the speed with which the packages can be handled but also decreases the wear and tear on the machine.

While I have herein shown and described the best embodiment of the invention of which I am at present aware, it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in many other forms differing in detail from the construction above described while still retaining the essential features and characteristics of the invention. It is obvious, therefore, that the invention is not limited to the details of the construction shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the'United States is:

1. In a machine for affixing labels to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels, of a rotary label-applying device constructed and .arranged to mechanically grasp a label in the magazine and through itsrotative movement to pull the label out of the magazine, said device being operative thereafter to apply said label toa package.

2. In a machine for affixing labels to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels, of a rotary label-applying device constructed and arranged to act positively on the labels during its rotative movement to pull them edgewise out of the magazine one at a time, and operative to apply them to the packages, and means for applying adhesive material to each label while it is carried by said device.

3. In a machine for affixing labels -to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels, of a rotary label-applying device constructed and arranged to grasp the edge of a label in the magazine and pull the label edgewise out of the magazine, and operative thereafter during its rotative movement to applysaid label to a packa e.

4. In a machine for aflixing abels t'o packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels, of a continuously rotatable label-applying device constructed and arranged to grasp the edge of a label in the.

5. In a machine for affixing labels to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels, of a continuously rotating label affixing dlevice constructed and arranged to pull the labels edgewise out of the magazine one at a time and to apply the labels to the packages, and an adhesive applying member located closely adjacent to the path of travel of said device but out of contactwith said device whereby said member is operative to apply adhesive material to the label after said device has pulled the label out, of the magazine. I

6. In a machine for affixing labels to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels, of a rotatable label affixing device constructed and arranged to remove the labels from the magazine one at a time and operative to apply the labels to the packages while making its rotative movement, and means for acting on the endmost label in the magazine to facilitate the initial engagement of said device with said zine to facilitate the initial engagement of said device with a label preparatory to re.

moving it from the magazine. 8. In a label afiixin machine the combian adhesive applying member mounted closely adj aeent to the path of travel of said j' device,-and meansconstructed and arranged.

" said device and into contact-with-said memtoforcethe label away from the face. of

ber as it iscarried past said member-by said device. v

9. In a label affixingmachine, the combination with a ma azine for the labels, of a rotatable label a xing device comprising a segmental plate, a nipper cooperatingwith said plate to grip a label, a cam controlling the opening and closing movements of sai nipper, a suction late arranged to deflect the margin of the oremost label in the magazine into (position to be grasped by sald nipper, an lationship to the movement of said device for operatingbsaid suction plate. I

10. In a la el affixing machine, the combination with a movable label atiixing device operative to transfer labels one at a time, of an adhesive applying member mounted closely adjacent to the path of movement of .said device and means for utilizin fluid pressure to force the label against sai v member as it is carried past said member by said device. i

11. In a label afiixin machine, the combination-with a rotata 1e label afiixing device comprising i a segmental plate, and

means coiiper'atmg therewith to grasp .a'

label substantially at the forward edge of said plate thereby causing the label to trail behind against the peripheral face of said plate,* of an adhesive applying member mounted closely adjacent to the path of rotation of said plate, and means cooperating with said plate to force the label outwardly away from said device and into engagement with said member while said plate carries the label past said member.

12. In a machme for applying labels and the like to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels and means for advancing the labels from the magazine one at a time, of mechanism operative automatically whenever a package is not presented in osition to receive a label to prevent said abel advancing operation without interfering with the normal movements of said means.

13. In a machine for applying labels and the like to packages, the combination with a means operating in timed re- I magazine for the labels and means for advancing the labels from the magazine One at a ime, of mechanism constructed and arra ged to position the labels for the operativ engagement therewith of said means,

.and means controlled by the presentation of the packages to the machine for controlling the operation of said mechanism.

14. In a machine for applying labels and the like to ackages, the combination with a magazine or the labels and means for advancing the labels firom the magazine one at a time, of a suction plate, mechanism for supporting and operating said suction plate to cause 1t to position a part of a label for the operative engagement therewith of said advanc ng means, a device normally positionedin the path of travelof packages into the machine, andconnections between said suction plate operating mechanism and said device constructed and arranged to render the suction plate inoperative to position a label whenever a package is .not presented to the machine in position to'receive the label.

I5. A labeling machine, having in combination a conveyer operative to advance packages one at atinie, two label applying mechanisms located on opposite sides of said conveyer and operative to apply labels multaneously to opposite faces of a'pac kage while it is advanced by said conveyer, and means for adjusting said mechanisms toward and from each other.

It. A labeling machine, having in combination a conveyor comprising a pair of con-v veyer elements arranged to advance packages one at a time, two label affixing mechanisms located on opposite sides of said conveyer and operative to apply labels to opposite faces of the packages advanced between them by said conveyer, two frame sections each supportmg one of, said" label atlixing mechanisms and one of said conveyer elements, and means .-for adjusting said sections toward and from each other to enable the machine to operate on packages of different sizes.

17. In a machine for applying labels and the like to packages, the combination with a magazine for the labels and means for feeding the labels from themagazine one at a time, of mechanism for positioning the labels for the operative engagementthere- Ill l s wlth of said means, and means for preventing the operation of said mechanism whenever a package is not presented to the ma- 

